"Some pastry chefs were earning €5,000 per month, net"

Qualified staff are a precious resource for the sector, and always in short supply, he continues. Are the salaries unattractive? Neuberg doesn't think so. "Wages have increased. Good, qualified workers can practically ask for whatever salary they want, because a bakery will have no interest in letting them go. Our bakery had pastry chefs earning €5,000 per month, net!"

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From the baker's to the Roads and Bridges Administration

One solution to attract staff would be more flexibility, says Neuberg, but the sector is encountering difficulties. "Often it's employers demanding more flexibility from their staff, but here it's the opposite. I could have 20 new employees tomorrow, if I could grant them a four-day work week with 10-hour shifts per day. Staff would have three days off a week, lower commuting costs, it would be a win-win situation. So many employees have asked for this, but the government and the trade unions keep blocking it."

Another issue encountered by the sector is the number of apprentices abandoning baking in favour of the civil service. "It's not talked about enough, but we often see apprentice bakers who then go off to work for the government. You'll have trained pastry chefs working for the local commune or at the Roads and Bridges Administration! The job has nothing to do with their training, but instead they use the apprenticeship to go into the civil service. That is not normal. Even though it is understandable - in the civil service, there is more annual leave, better benefits and so on."

"Customers no longer have the means to treat themselves"

Although inflation has stabilised somewhat recently, offering breathing space to the craftspeople and artisans who have struggled for months, bakeries are still far from being out of the woods. "We lack visibility for the future. We don't know how the energy crisis, raw material costs, inflation will evolve, even the banks don't know! Some companies have made big investments, but with the rise in fixed and variable rates, it becomes a big problem for everyone," Neuberg says.

Bakeries and patisseries have noticed the effects of the cost of living crisis on their customer base. "Some customers no longer have the means to treat themselves these days, whereas before they might have added cakes and pastries to their orders, in addition to buying bread."

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Are many bakers going out of business? "This year is going to be very tough on the numbers, for everyone. I have heard rumours of bankruptcy, others have said they won't make much profit this year, it's essentially a year that has been written off while waiting for things to improve in 2024. But, given the international context, things look like they will get off to a bad start in 2024 as well. Some smaller bakeries with elderly owners have decided to shut up shop."

"There are great products in the industry"

Is baking becoming less and less artisanal in Luxembourg?

"I think everyone is trying to produce quality items," says Neuberg. "But it's true that certain bakeries have been forced to cut down their ranges due to a lack of qualified staff. Sometimes they choose to buy pre-manufactured products, because they just don't have the manpower to make them themselves. Especially since there are great mass-produced products in the industry, sometimes better than those made by craftsmen."

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Another recurring criticism is the lack of information available on the products used to make bread and pastries. There is also a lack of a label to guarantee the products' quality. "We have a major label in Luxembourg for locally-made products," Neuberg says, and acknowledges that he uses this label in his own bakery. "For example, there is Luxembourgish flour, which can be up to 40% more expensive than traditional flour."

As far as displaying information goes, Neuberg explains: "We are obliged to have a technical sheet listing all the products on sale, but this isn't displayed next to individual products. Customers can always ask to view the sheet. It's normal that smaller artisan bakeries don't have the means to follow larger firms or supermarkets in terms of displaying labels."

Neuberg does believe there is plenty of demand for a return to quality ingredients. "Even supermarkets or large businesses selling frozen products have label requirements and they highlight organic products, items made without palm oil, or with low sugar content. So it isn't all moving in the wrong direction."